Laundry marker counter



Marith 31, 1936., A F HANNEY ZQEGJSQ LAUNDRY MARKER COUNTER Filed Feb. 7, 1930 IN VENTOR 005 F Amney Y 55M law, 2 7

ATTORNEYS laundering processes.

Patented Mar. 31, 1936 JNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LAUNDRY MARKER COUNTER Angus"'F.Hanney,Norwood, "Ohio, assignor to The AmericanLaundry Machinery Company, Cincinnati, hio,a corporation'of Ohio Application February 7,1930, Serial No. 426,614

Claims.

My invention relates to.a.counter.mechanism. It pertains, particularly, to a device for. calculating and determining the number of marking. clips on a clip key bar and is particularly. adapted for use in laundries where such'marking clips :are

used.

In laundries, it is a. generalv practiceto attach a clipon each piece of goods belonging to any one person before the goods are;sent.through the It is then .customary .to detach such identifying clips fromthe goods after they have been laundered. and before. sending them to their respective destinations. .In this manner an accurate check is kept on the number of pieces in any one. group of pieces;that .have

been laundered. Therefore, itis important that some means be provided formaking an accurate check on the number of clipsused prior. tonthe laundering process and on the number of.c1ips removed from the pieces in anyone group after clips to the goods andafterlthe removaltherefrom has been done by handorbysome more or less inefficient and relatively. inaccuratedevice. Further, the counting of these. clips consumed. a large amount of time.

One object ofmy invention is to provide a device for accurately and quickly registering or counting the number of clips ona clipkeysbar.

Another object of my invention is to. provide a device for calculating or counting the. number of marking clips on a clipkey bar of suchnature that the registeringdevice will automatically reset itself to normal zero position after the clips on the key bar have been counted.

Still another object of my invention is to pro- 45 vide a device of such nature that each clip Will be accurately registered and to provide an audible signal which will indicate whether or not the desired number of marking clips on each key bar are present.

' Other objects and various advantageous features of my invention may be seen in the following detailed description, and one embodiment thereof may be seen in the accompanying drawing wherein similar characters of reference 'des- '55 ignate corresponding parts and wherein Fig.'1

.isarview showing theipreferre'd embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a view similartoFigE. 1 but. showing the parts in different operative position.

Fig. 3 isa side. elevationofthe device shown in 5 Figs? 1 and 2.

Referring to thendrawing, I have shown one embodiment of my inventionas comprising a plate I.. forming the main frameof the device and provided with a rectangular trough like guide 2 at its lower edge which is adapted to receive a .clip key. bar 3. having .marking..clips 4 mounted thereon. As-shown, a disc or wheel 5 is. mounted for rotation on a post 6 extending outwardly from the main frame I, and a spiral spring-1 having 5 onev of its ends attachedto thedisc or wheel 5, as at'x3, and its opposing end attached to the frame I, as at 9, is disposed between the inner faceof the disc or wheel' 5 and the-corresponding face of the frame I to yieldably resist rotation of 20 the disc orwheel 5 in a clockwise direction Fig. l, and to maintain the disc or wheel in such position that a lug I0 thereon normally. abuts against a stop I I provided on the frame. This arrangementnormally resists -movement of the disc or wheel 5 in a clockwise direction and returns the disc orwheel to its normal starting position after it has been rotated.

The disc or wheel-5 has'a series of notches I2 about its outer circumference and these notches are preferably thesame in numberas the number of marking clips ordinarilysupposed to be disposed on the clip key bar 3. The spacing of the notches I2 is substantially the sameas the spacing of the tops of the clips 4 when nested closely togetheron thekey bar 3. A lever or bell crank I3 is pivoted to the'frame I as'at' I4; and so disposed that one end thereof will normally abut against the post Gwhich acts as a stop therefor. A spring I5 is connected" at one of 'its ends to 40 that sameend'of the lever or hell crank I3 and at its other end to some convenient place on the frame I, in' this instance to anarm I6 extending outwardly from the frame. This spring tends to hold the lever or bell crank in the position shown. A rod or wire I1 is rigidly secured to the same end of the lever or bell-crank I3 and has a ball I8 onits extreme outer end. A- bell or gong i9 is provided against which thisball I8 .is adapted to strike under certain :conditionstoproduce an audible signal.

The outer face of the disc or wheel 5. has an operating member 20. .loosely'pivoted thereon as at 2 I and normallyheldiin the position shown in Fig.1 by means of 'a. spring22 thatis connected at one end to the member 20 and at its opposing end to the face of the disc or wheel 5. That is, the spring member 22 is normally adapted to hold the member 20 in its lowermost position and against a stop 23 provided on the face of the disc or wheel 5 and operating within a slot 24 in the member 20. The member 20 is pivoted adjacent the last notch I2 on the outer circumference of the disc or wheel and one end of such member is coincident with such last notch.

In the operation of this device the key bar 3, having the marking clips 4 thereon and abutting against a stop 30 on the key bar provided for that purpose and against each other in the manner shown, is inserted into the rectangular guide 2 as in Fig. 1. Pressure is exerted on the key bar to move it through such guide way and, after the key bar moves a given distance, the top of the first marking clip will contact with the radially extending lug l0, whereupon continued movement of the key bar through the guide way will rotate the disc or wheel 5 on its pivot post 6 against the resistance of the spring 1 hereinbefore described.

After initiation of such rotation of the disc or wheel 5 by contact of the radially extending lug I 0 with the top of the first marking clip, the tops of the remaining clips are engaged by the notches I2 about the outer circumference of the wheel or disc and, since the spacing of the notches is substantially the same as the spacing of the tops of the marking clips, each succeeding clip will be engaged by each succeeding notch on the outer circumference of the disc or wheel. By suitably numbering the notches I 2, the number of clips carried by the key bar 3 up to any given point within its length may be accurately determined.

However, it is customary to have a definite number of clips on each key bar. Therefore, I have provided a means for indicating to the operator when the desired number of clips, in this instance fifty, are on the key bar.

As the rotation of the disc or wheel 5 is continued by the engagement of successive clips with successive notches on the disc or wheel, the disc or wheel will eventually reach such position, after almost a full revolution of the disc or wheel, that the last notch will be in contact with the top of the last clip on the key bar, as shown in Fig. 2. When such last notch is reached, the part of the member 20, which coincides with the last notch on the disc or wheel, will contact with the top of the last clip and continued movement of the disc or wheel will bring a projection on the member 26 into contact with the lowermost end 26 of the bell crank or lever l3 by moving the member 20 upwardly; then, continued rotation of the disc or wheel 5 will move the lever or bell crank [3 about its pivot, as shown in this figure, and away from the post 6 which normally acts as a stop. Further, such movement will be against the tension of the spring I5 and as the disc or wheel continues its movement by reason of movement of the key bar 3 through the guide 2 the projection 25 will ultimately move out of contact with the lowermost end 26 of the lever or bell crank l3. When so released, the lever or bell crank l3 will be moved back against the stop 6 by the spring l5 in such manner that the ball I8 will strike against the gong l9 and produce an audible signal. Thus, I have provided a means for informing an operator when a key bar contains the desired or full number of marking clips. Less than the desired full number of clips on a bar will result in the signal not sounding as will be apparent since the member 20 will not contact with a clip and be moved.

Should there be more clips on the key bar than there are notches in the disc or wheel, it will be readily seen that the additional clip will jam between the part of the periphery of the disc or wheel on which there is no notches and the key bar and the device will not function.

The particular marker used with the apparatus described by this invention comprises a clip made of some resilient metal that is bent into substantially the shape of a U with the free ends pressed together, the goods being gripped be-' tween the free ends of such clip when the clips are attached thereto. One leg of this U shaped clip is preferably made wider than the other leg and is made with a key perforation adapted to fit upon the key bar 3. However, any desired type of clip might be used.

Referring to the drawing and the preceding description it will be apparent that I have provided a device for counting the number of marking clips on a key bar embodying numerous novel and advantageous features. For instance, I have provided a device by means of which the number of clips on a key bar will be quickly and accurately determined and an audible signal will be sounded after the desired number are on such key bar, with no signal being sounded if less than the desired number are thereon. However, my device is such that, should there not be the desired number of clips on the key bar it would only be necessary to pass the key bar through the device and stop movement of the key bar when the last clip thereon is in engagement with its corresponding notch to quickly and accurately determine the number of clips on the key bar.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the class described, comprising a supporting device adapted to hold a plurality of clips in definite order or arrangement, and means adapted to receive said supporting device with the clips thereon and provided with means arranged to produce an indication to the operator when a predetermined number and no other number of clips are on the supporting device, said last named means including a device adapted for operation by the last one of a predetermined number of clips held in said device.

2. A counter mechanism for laundry marking clips comprising, in combination, a supporting device adapted to hold a plurality of clips in definite order or arrangement, and means adapted to receive said supporting device with the clips thereon and provided with means arranged to produce an indication when a predetermined number of clips and no other number are on the supporting device, said first named means ineluding a frame and a guideway in said frame adapted to receive said clip supporting device, said second named means including a rotatable element carried by said frame and adapted to be actuated by movement of the clip laden supporting device along said guideway.

3. A counter mechanism for laundry marking clips comprising, in combination, a supporting device adapted to hold a plurality of clips in definite order or arrangement, and means adapted to receive said supporting device with the clips thereon, said means being provided with means arranged to produce an indication to the operator when a predetermined number and no other number of clips are on the supporting device.

4. In a counter mechanism for laundry clips having an element rotatable by contact with clips assembled on a supporting device and including indicia on said element for indicating any number of clips within the capacity of said device, the combination of a frame supporting the rotatable element, said frame having a guideway for directing said device in a path adjacent said element, portions of said element being adapted to coact with clips on said device to rotate the element as the device is moved through the guideway, and means arranged to produce an indication when a predetermined number only of clips are on the supporting device.

5. Apparatus of the character described, comprising a frame, a clip-supporting device adapted to be moved therealong, a rotatable element carried by said frame and rotatable by the clips on said device during such movement thereof, said element being provided with a predetermined number of circumferentially distributed, clip-receiving notches which limit the rotation of said element to that imparted to it by a corresponding number of clips on said device, signal producing means, and means associated with the last notch of said element and operable by the clip cooperable therewith for controlling said signal producing means.

ANGUS F. HANNEY. 

